Here, Hold This
by Kiba Sniper
Summary: Chloe conducts a spur-of-the-moment experiment.


Here, Hold This

"...yeah, so, Ford made us build the camp every summer," Bobby said, rolling his eyes.

Chloe tilted her head. "That sounds neither safe nor wise."

"That old coot Cruller says it was part of our training," he said, making quotation marks with his fingers. "We had to fix the lodge, build the cabins, ripped out the trees and rocks, ugh. He even doped us with psitanium to work faster." He shook his head. "There used to be more boulders everywhere, but we hauled 'em all out to the lake and tossed 'em in here last summer." He looked down at her, stretching his legs out over the water. "You're lucky HQ banned all that. That's the one good thing Kitty did for us."

"Did she threaten to have her father sue the Psychonauts?" Chloe asked, watching him telekinetically pull out a lungfish from the lake.

He smirked. "Yep. She got her knee busted from Vernon droppin' this giant tree trunk on her when we had to clear out some parts of the forest. She couldn't move it for two weeks, I think. She had her dad call the Psychonauts and threatened to sue for, uh..." He lifted his gaze to the cloudy sky. "...oh, yeah, child abuse, negligence, stuff like that. The Psychonauts dropped that practice in the blink of an eye." He snapped his fingers, letting the lungfish plop onto the wooden planks. Slapping his hand on the fish, he pinned it to the docks before it could flop back into the lake, saying, "Oleander got chewed out real bad for it. One of the higher-ups came to camp and yelled at him right in front of us. Kept sayin' stuff like 'we gave you a budget to fix what was broken' and 'we can't use child labor even it it's quick and easy.'"

Chloe hummed, nodding along as she inspected the lungfish. Earthlings really were sneaky creatures. Using children who lacked the proper skills to fix buildings and uproot trees under the guise of training made her frown. She knew her people would never resort to such barbaric tactics and would probably be offended if it was ever suggested. To her, it was one more reason why the Greater Galactic Community ignored Earth.

"So, um-" Bobby cleared his throat, tightening his grip on the fish as it tried flailing. "-what's, uh, what's this-I mean, what are we doing again?"

She sighed under her breath. She had already explained why she needed to examine the lungfish, but it seemed her explanation sailed over his massive mop of hair. Judging from the deep red burning his sky blue complexion a light purple, she supposed he was embarrassed to admit he didn't understand her logic.

But he was the only person in camp who offered his assistance with her experiments. No matter how inane or boring they sounded to others, he leapt at the chance to help. Even if he was in the middle of something else, he broke away to join her in pulling up arrowheads to add to her model spaceship or show her higher places in Whispering Rock to test her interdimensional telepathy. She couldn't be too annoyed with him when he was the only one who took her seriously.

"I'm examining this lungfish to compare it to similar aquatic creatures in my galaxy. So far, it looks very…" She cocked her head as the lungfish slowed its movements, its flailing becoming more pitiful. "...weak. Their gills look underdeveloped, too, possibly because of the psitanium in the water." She shrugged. "You know what? You can toss it back in. This experiment feels fruitless."

"Yeah, these guys are pretty stupid," he said, clutching the lungfish like a football. He reeled his arm back before throwing the fish with all of his might. Grinning when it ricocheted off a rock and plummeted back into the water, he sneered, "Who cares if they can swim and breathe? I can swim and breathe. Ain't like it's hard."

She looked up at him. "But you wear those inflatable armbands when you swim."

Bobby's face and confidence fell in an instant. His mouth dropped open an inch. He rubbed through his hair and glanced at the waves hitting the docks. Tucking his chin down, he muttered, "I mean, y'know, I can still swim."

Supposing she was blunt, Chloe nodded. While he kept gazing at the lake, she continued staring at him. He didn't seem to realize it, his attention focused on a school of lungfish as they swam by them. She glanced down at his hand, finding it was in a fist, his knuckles pressing against one of the chipped planks. It was a common sight. In her observations, she noticed he always walked with his fists swinging at his sides. Even when they were together, he kept his hands clenched tight, his knuckles white against his pale, freckled skin.

It suddenly occurred to her that she had never felt his palms. In her observations, humans were creatures who enjoyed and needed touch. Her fellow campers were always grabbing or poking each other. In Bobby's case, he was always hitting them, but around her, he kept his hands to himself in fists or on his hips or stuffed in his pockets.

A new experiment was in order, and a plan formed in her head faster than ever before. Turning to him, she offered her hand, the gesture quickly catching his attention. She watched him shift his gaze between her and her hand, his eyebrows rising to his hairline.

"Here, hold this," she ordered.

He rubbed his neck.. "Hold-hold what? I, uh, I don't-I don't see what you're holdin'. Is it invisible?" He gasped. "Oh! Wait, can aliens do that? Turn stuff invisible like Milka can?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes like a common, simple-minded earthling. His tone conveyed curiosity while she felt annoyed. Such assumptions could have offended another alien.

But she knew Bobby didn't mean it. He was the only one who paid any genuine care for her heritage. He was still learning and growing, and a few mistakes along the bumpy road weren't cause for alarm.

"This," she said, taking his hand.

The air sparked around her, humidity clinging to her skin. For a split second, she thought Phoebe was somewhere nearby having a flare-up. She almost pulled away, but watching his expression turn a deep shade of violet immediately caught her attention. His eyes were wider than ever before, hiding the red rings around them. His mouth fell open, letting her see darker shades of green on the back of his gums, and a squeak escaped him, reminding her of a mouse.

Focusing on his hand, she ran her thumb along his palm, the mere action making his arm quiver. Calluses dotted his fingers and pressed against her skin and knuckles. To her surprise, compared to the heat in his face and the air around them, his hand cooled hers. There was an interesting strength in his grip when he wrapped his fingers around her hand, nearly covering it, his entire arm shaking and making her body jostle.

"Curious," she murmured, scooting closer to him. The breeze brushed by them, cooling the air. "This feels nice."

"I-i-it-" He swallowed thickly, sweat trickling down his cheeks despite the awning protecting them from the sun. "I-it does? It does?"

"Yes. Your hand has a sturdy texture to it." She nodded, agreeing with her own assertion.

"It's not-" He glanced at their reflections in the water, a few upper teeth managing to gnaw on his lower lip.

"Your hand is not sweaty," Chloe said, his shoulders hitching upwards. "Sorry. You were thinking about it very loudly."

He heaved out his relief in a deep sigh. His lips managed to quirk upwards, a sight which she had seen many times when they were alone. His smile was always lopsided. One cheek pushed upwards more than the other. Compared to the other smiles with perfectly white teeth the other cadets wore on a daily basis, she found his grin the best among them.

"Can I keep holding your hand?" Chloe asked. When Bobby nodded so quickly in return that his hair flipped up and down, she nodded again. "Okay. Thank you for your cooperation."

"No problem, y'know, anythin' for you," he said, his words tumbling out.

Chloe glanced at him, letting the silence return. She wasn't sure how to take his remarks. He was always helping her or following her lead. Anything she asked, he did it without complaints. No one else would do that for her or they'd call her crazy and try disproving her heritage.

Squeezing his hand, she said, "Thank you, Bobby."

"For what?" he asked, staring down at her.

She tapped the underside of her helmet. "A lot of things. Continuously helping me. Advocating for me. You have done much for me this summer, more than I would expect from anyone else." She leaned back, keeping her thumb pressed into his palm. "I suppose I feel as if, well, I have not done the same."

"You're wrong!" he blurted, squashing her hand so tightly her fingers reddened. He yelped, a high-pitched apology spilling out from him. He nearly pulled his hand back only for her to tighten her grip. Blinking, he seemed to be waiting for something, but she continued staring at him. Straightening his back, he glanced at their clasped hands, saying, "I mean, I mean, um, I dunno, that just ain't true. You've done a lotta things for me, too. Th-thanks, uh, thanks, Chloe."

Chloe went to retort only to close her mouth. She let her attention fall back on their hands. She took a deep breath, saying, "Okay. I believe you."

He shakily dragged his thumb across her knuckles. They watched the waves caress the shore and docks in silence. Leaning into his shoulder, she grinned when he didn't flinch at her touch and in one of her many Cygnan hearts, she hoped the moment would last a little longer.


End file.
